The third annual All-Female Jazz Residency of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in partnership with the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University-Newark, will take place in Newark from the 10th to the 16th of July.
The residency is a week long summer intensive course for aspiring women jazz professionals, from 14 to 25 years old, led by an all-star faculty under the direction of Geri Allen, the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Students will be travelling from across the country to study and play with a faculty composed by bassist Linda Oh, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, singer Connaitre Miller, saxophonist Bruce Williams, drummer Jeff "Train" Watts and pianist Ellen Rowe. Vibraphonist Stefon Harris and saxophonist Tia Fuller will also be conducting masterclasses.
This year the students will be residing, studying and rehearsing in a restored, historic 1930 skyscraper on the Rutgers-Newark campus at 15 Washington Street. The building is close to NJPAC, the archives of the Institute of Jazz Studies, Jazz Radio WBGO (88.3FM) and a number of venues for live performance opportunities.
Alison Scott-Williams, NJPAC's Vice President of Arts Education, said "establishing lifelong relationships with others student musicians, as well as trailblazers in the field, makes this such a unique experience. When they're under the wing of the best in the business, taking flight comes naturally."